[msqueri]

It seems to me that we should think of it as Mike and Will plus an edge and EITHER a second edge or a Sam. That's because we'll typically be in nickel I would think. That means that if your front seven math is adding up to seven, that's one too many on probably a majority of plays. There will be plays with different configurations of course (e.g., two DL, two edge, a Sam, a Mike, and a Will without a nickel back) but if we're talking about the base defense, it's cheating to have the positions add up to 12 and I think it's more accurate to assume five DBs on a play than four.

[msqueri]

It seems to me that we should think of it as Mike and Will plus an edge and EITHER a second edge or a Sam. That's because we'll typically be in nickel I would think. That means that if your front seven math is adding up to seven, that's one too many on probably a majority of plays. There will be plays with different configurations of course (e.g., two DL, two edge, a Sam, a Mike, and a Will without a nickel back) but if we're talking about the base defense, it's cheating to have the positions add up to 12 and I think it's more accurate to assume five DBs on a play than four.